Pop music '86: The old guard rocks on

Richard Cromelin

The win, place and show positions in the Times' pop-music writers' 1986 album poll signify a sweep for the old guard.

The music they're making these days might be fresh and adventurous, but you'd need a calculator to total the years of experience under the belts of Gabriel, Simon and — a relative newcomer — Costello. That's a sharp contrast to the '85 voting, which crowned Tim by the young Minnesota upstarts the Replacements (who didn't release an album in '86).

Even fourth-place R.E.M., a spearhead of the American independent rock movement, is getting a bit long in the tooth now. Peter Case, at No. 6, is the highest-ranking debut album, but he put in a lot of time performing and recording with the Plimsouls, so the real rookie-of-the-year honors go to the BoDeans, followed closely by the Jesus and Mary Chain, Steve Earle and the Pogues.

The balloting bypasses the big commercial albums of '86, including Lionel Richie, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Billy Ocean and Van Halen. And some veterans who can usually count on a nod or two — Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Bob Seger — were entirely shut out.

But there were other conspicuous absences among artists whose past work invariably figured in the Top 15, like Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Prince. John Fogerty's follow-up to his big '85 comeback LP (No. 9 last year) didn't register at all, and several one-time acts-to-watch (Big Country, Katrina & the Waves, Cyndi Lauper) dropped from sight.

Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. in 1984 was the last album to enjoy critical and commercial unanimity as No. 1, and the fact that the Boss' live album made only seven of the 18 ballots is the most surprising result of this year's poll.

The only country act to make the list is Steve Earle, as the critics went neither for the established Nashville sellers (George Strait, the Judds) nor for the new blood (Randy Travis, Dwight Yoakam). Speaking of new blood, several ballyhooed young rock and pop acts also received minimal support, including the Smithereens, David & David, the Woodentops and Timbuk 3.

The biggest black album of '86 (in fact, the year's biggest album of any category) was Whitney Houston's debut. It was released in '85, but it didn't make last year's consensus either. Of this year's other major black albums, the Times writers went only for Janet Jackson, Anita Baker and Run-D.M.C., omitting both veteran stars (Patti LaBelle, James Brown, Tina Turner) and so-called cutting-edge types (Jesse Johnson).

One reason for black music's poor showing may be that it's still a singles-oriented area of pop. The same goes for rap music. It might have made big commercial strides, but on an LP level, only Run-D.M.C. has emerged as a critics' choice.

The '86 results also mark a halt in the increasing representation of independent rock labels like Torrance's SST and Minneapolis' Twin/Tone. All of this year's finishers are on major labels.

And in part because the big three — X, the Blasters and Los Lobos — were idle this year, L.A.'s grass-roots rock came up short. Peter Case is the only member of the Top 15 associated with that scene. Other L.A. performers receiving scattered votes: the Bangles, Phil Alvin, Stan Ridgway, Thelonious Monster, T.S.O.L. and the Minutemen.

That shuts out such acts as Lone Justice (whose debut album came in at No. 6 last year), Fishbone, Blood on the Saddle, Saccharine Trust, Dream Syndicate, the Descendents, Agent Orange and the Pontiac Brothers, among others.